In one embodiment of a peer-to-peer distributed computing environment, one or more issuers have a direct relationship with one or more client resource providers. In such an environment, an issuer, desiring to have a workload processed, partitions the workload into a plurality of tasks, and delegates the tasks to the one or more client resource providers. The client resource providers accept the tasks and process them using local resources. The providers then send back the results of the tasks to the issuer.
In this environment, in order for a client resource provider to process a task, the client needs to contact the issuer to download and install a runtime environment to be used in processing the task. The runtime environment is specific to the issuer, and thus, if the issuer changes, so does the runtime environment. Further, if the client resource provider wishes to support multiple issuers, then multiple runtime environments need to be downloaded and installed on the client.
Based on the foregoing, a need exists for a peer-to-peer distributed computing environment that facilitates the processing of workloads by clients. For example, a need exists for an environment in which changes of the issuer do not affect the runtime environment. Further, a need exists for an environment in which a direct relationship is not necessary between the issuers and clients. Yet further, a need exists for an environment that supports multiple issuers without downloading and installing multiple runtime environments.